There were three groups of young people in the Northwoods last week. Two groups of young ladies were in houses on the east and west side of the Wolf Lake. The young men stayed in the main lodge.
Holly told me an interesting story when she returned. On Friday night each of the groups built a fire on the shore and gathered around and sang. The groups could hear each other sing and see the fires from three points on the lake. They say it was beautiful to see and to hear. The groups sang back and forth to one another. They were joined by the music of crickets and the mystical call of the loons. The lake was dark as ink and smooth as marble.
There were thirty-eight young people in all and they were each eager to report the work of God in their lives. They returned eager to be closer to their families and closer to the Lord.
Listening to them tell what God had done was very touching and imagining their singing to one another gathered around fires on the margin of the lake warmed my heart. The world over and throughout time there are few things as beautiful as a gathering of young people seeking God, worshipping God, and loving God. You hear a lot about troubled young people dressed in bizarre clothing doing terrible things. But last week on the remote lake in the upper peninsula of Michigan about forty young people spent the week cultivating fellowship with God, praying, searching the Scriptures, and building stronger relationships with their families and they closed their week beside an open fire, singing hymns with each other to the Lord back and forth across the lake at night.
It isn’t a scandal so you won’t read about it in the paper, but I thought you might enjoy hearing about it.
Ken Pierpont
Brook Place
Hinsdale, Illinois
April 30, 2007
Wonderful.